Colombian Miguel Rubiano has ridden to a decisive solo victory in today’s stage 6 of the Giro d’Italia, a 210 km route from Urbino to Porto Sant’Elpidio.

The Androni-Giocattoli rider joined a breakaway at 25km into the race, then bolted off the front of the pack about 45km to go and held on through the mountainous stage for the biggest win of his career.

Rubiano had that chase group of four riders behind him, followed by the peloton. While he got enough of a gap to hold the the virtual overall lead on the road for a short time, the group closed in toward the end of the day.

In the finishing run, only two riders had a shot at the overall lead – Adriano Malori (Lampre-ISD) from Italy and Michal Golas (Omega Pharma-Quick Step) from Poland – with Malori taking the sprint and the 12-second bonus which put him in pink. He now leads the race with a total time of 20:25:26, while Golas ended the day in second overall, 15 seconds back.

Canadian Ryder Hesjedal (Garmin-Barracuda) finished with the main group and now sits in third place in the GC, 17 seconds back. Rubiano climbed to fourth overall.